


Turning Point

by missrhondalee



Category: Laverne & Shirley (TV)
Genre: Elevator Sex, Episode Related, F/M, Feelings, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Humor, Resolved Sexual Tension, Season Eight, Sexual Content, Trapped In Elevator, intercourse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:42:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26768212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missrhondalee/pseuds/missrhondalee
Summary: Carmine and Laverne reevaluate their friendship after revelations have been made.
Relationships: Laverne DeFazio/Carmine Ragusa
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Turning Point

**Author's Note:**

> This one was particularly hard for me to write. Needless to say I've lost it a couple of times lmao

She sat on the passenger seat glancing out the window asking herself if her life could get any more pathetic at this point. She and Carmine were on their way to Chuck's dog get well party. Although Laverne was beyond reluctant to go, it was the least she could do considering she was the reason the poor dog broke all four legs. But in her defense, weren't dogs supposed to be smart enough not to jump out of windows? But then Chuck wasn't that bright of a guy and it only made sense that Willie wasn't either. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree..or was the expression only meant for humans?

Laverne sighed loudly as she now glanced down at her outfit. She knew she was overdressed for this, she wore a knee length black dress with black pumps and she'd even done her hair, but what the hell. A party was still a party, even if this one was...very lame. The fact that Carmine agreed to tag along made it more bearable. Hell, everything was more bearable these days with him at her side. She knew if it wasn't for Carmine, Laverne wouldn't have made it through Shirley's departure three months ago. Her entire existence turned upside down the evening they found the note and although the two weeks of depression that followed had been particularly rough, Laverne had made her peace with it now. Her best friend had a whole new life halfway across the planet and she accepted the fact, although it was sometimes tough because she missed her, that she didn't have a place in it.

Carmine had been there for her from the beginning and although he had never said it out loud, she had helped him get through Shirley leaving just as much.

"You all right?" he asked now as he slowed the car and stopped at a red light.

"Yeah. Thanks for agreeing to this." she knew Rhonda was going to be there because she owed Chuck after he came to her disastrous evening at Cowboy Bills with Monty Shore, Laverne still felt terrible she'd ruined her audition. She also knew Squiggy was going to show because he seized every opportunity to meet chicks. Although, what kind of girls would you meet at a party organized by Chuck the nut? Even she knew the only decent man at that party was going to be Carmine. Not that she wanted to meet a new guy anyway. With Shirley gone, she and Carmine found themselves spending a lot of time together. Not only would he come over every other night, they would also occasionally go to the movies and even to the beach a couple of times. At first, their hanging out together was just a way to fill the void after their friend abandoned them but now Laverne enjoyed being with him.

"No problem. I have an announcement to make so it's actually good that all of our friends are going to be there."

"An announcement?" she frowned but then joked. "What, are you going to reveal you're actually a woman? Let me tell you if you are, you're doing one hell of a good job concealing it."

"Ha ha." Carmine shook his head smiling, "No. Trust me. Every inch of me is male."

She winked seductively, "Every inch, huh?"

He chuckled, "Will you stop it? I'm serious."

"Okay. I'm listening. What?"

"Nah, I think I'll wait."

She pouted, "Please."

"I guess I can tell you before anyone else."

Laverne's smile slowly faded as Carmine told her about his plans of moving to New York at the end of the month. Her facial expression changed rapidly at the sound of these words and he picked up on it. "What? You think it's a mistake?"

The light turned green and they moved forward, “L.A. is a dead end.” he tried to explain he was fed up of his life going nowhere. The only auditions he managed to get in the last six months were the ones Squiggy secured for him through his talent agency and even then they were always lousy parts. Carmine thought he was wasting his talent in Burbank. He was thirty years old and only had a few good years left to make something of himself.

"I mean look at us, we're going to a get well party for a dog. We can't sink any lower."

Laverne nodded and wiped her eyes quickly but he still caught her.

He looked at her concerned, "Hey. You okay?" he gently squeezed her arm, "Are you crying?"

She shrugged, "We've been hanging out together every other night. I thought..."

"You thought what?" then it hit him. "Wait, you like me?"

God, if she was near a cliff right now she would honestly jump. Laverne's cheeks turned red and her vision was now partially blurred. She'd let her imagination turn those friendly nights together into something a lot more meaningful. She had known from the moment she developed feelings that it was a possibility he might not feel the same. Why was she so stupid?

Or maybe she wasn't. Carmine's demeanor changed suddenly as he became aware of this newfound revelation. He looked uneasy, almost squirming in his seat. Could it be that he had feelings for her too and she wasn't imagining things after all?

She was sure of it when he told her right away they couldn't get involved. Someone who didn't feel the same would react differently. They might say, "Gee, I didn't know you felt this way..." and would try to let her down easy, you know? Carmine directly went into defensive mode. Like he'd just been attacked or something. Hell, he even started looking pale.

She managed to stop crying, "You know what? Forget it, okay?"

"We can't-"

"Forget it."

"Laverne, I mean-"

"I said forget it!" she snapped, "Just drive."

They stopped talking after that and actually didn't speak another word until they reached the elevator inside Chuck's cheap building. Carmine took a deep breath as he stepped inside after her and they now stood at a reasonable distance from each other. Carmine asked what floor Chuck lived on. Without answering, she pushed the button to the tenth floor. "You're upset."

No shit. "The other night, you said you enjoyed spending time with me-"

"I do."

"I'm sorry but it seems to me you're taking the easy way out."

"The easy way out?" he repeated as the elevator doors closed.

"What makes you think New York's going to be any different?"

"They look for singers there-"

"You might not make it there, I mea-"

If he already felt like a failure, her comment only twisted the knife further.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence." he said sarcastically.

"If I'm so wrong, why haven't you made it by now?" although the last six months may have been tough, he used to have auditions lined up when they moved here but he would rarely ever get the parts. He was either too short or he wasn't what they were looking for. That was what Carmine would tell his friends but Laverne had always suspected deep down that he was just finding excuses, that he would actually intentionally mess up during the auditions so he wouldn't get the parts because he was too chicken to pursue his dreams, probably too scared of failure but also of success. Because succeeding would mean seeing something through to the end and she believed that that terrified him beyond belief.

"You don't know how it is. There's a lot of competition out there-" he tried defending himself. Another excuse.

"Well, I got news for you, Carmine. There's competition in New York too."

He scoffed, "Thanks for believing in me."

"I believe in you. You're just full of shit."

"Excuse me?!"

"Yeah. That's right." She glared at him, "You heard me. I wish you were honest. Your leaving has nothing to do with your career and we both know it."

Laverne felt tears gather in her eyes again as her lower lip now quivered. What she had mistaken for an overactive imagination turned out to be in fact very real. God, everything made sense now...

"The other night we were basically cuddling on my couch and if you hadn't gone home, we both know something would have happened-" Instead he just got up and left and at first she did think she had imagined things but now she knew she hadn't.

"But nothing did."

"Nothing did because you chickened out, once again."

She wiped her tears repeatedly ruining the makeup she applied earlier and now not only did she feel miserable, she also looked like it. "Were you leading me on?" she asked, just to see his reaction.

"No. I..what?"

Yep. She'd been right all along. "So we agree then, you do feel the same. You're just using your career as an excuse to get out because we've become emotionally attached and you're terrified. Your leaving is just another excuse not to face your fears."

"Are you saying what I think you are? Are you insinuating that I'm a coward, is that it?"

"Well, not in so many words. But if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck..."

Now she knew she struck a nerve by the look on his face.

"Okay. You know what?" he sniffled loudly, he looked as upset as she was minus the tears but his voice was trembling. "I-I don't want to start anything right now. We're about to meet with friends. How about tonight we just keep our distance, I would like to have a nice ti-"

She scoffed, angrily shaking her head, "Why am I not surprised? Bailing every time things get a little bit tough, huh Ragusa?"

She shrugged, "Might as well start living my life without you in it, you know? Since you're gonna be gone two thousand miles away."

The more she talked, the crummier he felt. "How about we stop talking now? I think we've said more than enough."

"You know what? You're right. Let's avoid each other tonight." he made her so mad she almost wanted to kill him.

"Fine."

"Fine."

They now stood on opposite sides of the elevator. While Carmine now avoided glancing her way, Laverne tried to calm herself down but failed miserably.

She wiped her tears again as she watched the numbers light up on the wall. As they mentally begged for the next few minutes to go by quickly so they could go their separate ways, although that would be difficult considering they were heading to the same place, the elevator suddenly came to an abrupt stop when they reached the ninth floor. Laverne held on to the bar as the lights started to flicker.

"What the hell?" Carmine exclaimed. If the universe was playing a joke on them right now, it sure as hell wasn't funny. She'd laugh at the irony if small spaces didn't make her so nervous.

Carmine pushed the button frantically but nothing was working. "Great. Wonderful."

Laverne's anxiety grew by each second that passed, making her fear intensify. She has always suffered from claustrophobia so obviously an elevator had to be the worst space to be trapped in. She knew she should have used the steps like the last time she came to visit Chuck, the time poor Willie jumped out the window, but she figured a few minutes in an elevator wasn't going to kill her even more considering they were already late. God, if only she could go back in time now...

Wanting to get out, she pushed the same button he had seconds ago.

"I already tried. It's stuck."

Laverne cried harder as her intense fear combined with the emotional stress she was going through made her feel faint. She actually looked quite pale. Carmine only noticed the state she was in when she started panting. Worry spread through him as he studied her. She was even shaking. "Are you okay?"

She wasn't answering and he moved toward her slowly. "Laverne? You all right?"

He tried touching her arm but she wouldn't let him, "Don't!"

An interminable pause followed as Laverne tried to get a grip on herself while Carmine forced himself to face the facts. He was always complaining his life was going nowhere when in reality, he was responsible for it being like this. Laverne was right. He was a coward. When he thought about it, life _did_ give him plenty of opportunities, including the auditions Squiggy got him despite how he felt about them, throughout the years to make something of himself but he'd always been too much of a wimp to seize them. Maybe it was about damn time he grew a fucking pair.

After what felt like an eternity, Carmine found the courage to speak again.

"What if it doesn't work out?" he asked finally and she was confused.

Her voice was barely audible, "What?"

"What if it doesn't work out between us, are you willing to risk us resenting each other?" God knew how much he resented Shirley for stringing him along all these years only to end up marrying someone else.

"I mean, you remember the last time we tried, how that turned out?" their fling which ended with the shouting and the name calling. Although they did get past their different eating habits somehow in the last few weeks considering they spent so much time together.

They finally looked at each other although her vision was blurred. "It won't be the same. We're different people now." Plus Shirley was gone so they wouldn't have to lie not to hurt anyone. They wouldn't have to sneak around.

Laverne shrugged, "I mean, we have fun together, don't we?" like that time they went to the beach and ended up having a laughing fit because some guy lost his swimming trunks in the sea and had to get out of the water naked as a jaybird. "You remember that naked guy?"

"At the beach." Carmine chuckled now, "Yeah. God, that was so funny."

"He had to use seaweed to cover himself." even though she was still crying, she was laughing too now.

Although it sure was nice to laugh again after what they've just gone through emotionally in the last half hour, Carmine forced himself to remain serious,

"I just..I mean, I wasted so much time with Shirl-" okay, yes, he'd obviously gone out with other women too but he had always forbidden himself to get serious with any of them because of her.

"I'm not her."

He nodded, "I know."

She took a step closer to him. "We could try. What do we have to lose?"

"Uh, our friendship?"

"How about we promise to always stay friends no matter what happens between us. Sounds fair?"

"I don't know..."

"Come on, haven't you ever wondered? We could be great together."

Was he going to let his fears get in the way once again or was he going to seize an opportunity at last?

"So, what do you say?" she asked now.

He chose the latter. Carmine pressing his lips against hers was his response. He slammed her body against the wall as they now kissed passionately like they were making up for lost time or something. Laverne moaned as he pressed his body against hers, kissing her neck slowly. The fact that they hadn't been touched in ages and that they were also trapped in an elevator only inflamed them more. So much so that although she suffered from claustrophobia, her fear had like magically disappeared. Maybe because it was all in the mind and at the moment all she thought about was him. Carmine however stopped her as she was reaching for the front of his pants.

"Wait." he panted loudly, "We can't do this here."

"Why not?"

"What if there's a camera or something?"

"Do you see one?"

Carmine quickly glanced to the corners of the elevator. "Well.." maybe it was hidden in the walls or something and he told her.

"Come on Ragusa, take a risk for god's sake."

She unzipped his pants and he groaned loudly as she reached inside to fondle the front of his boxers. Wanting to make her feel as good, he reciprocated by sliding his hand under her dress and into her panties. "Oh, god..."

Carmine pulled down his pants and he cursed as she now stroked him. "Fuck!"

Laverne held on to him as he slid her panties down her legs. "Turn around."

She groaned loudly as he pulled on her hair and kissed her neck again. "God, you smell so good." and she thought wearing perfume had been a waste....

He spread her legs apart and she gasped as she felt him slowly moving inside her. "Oh, my god."

Carmine breathed heavily as he gripped her hips. Although gentle at first, he now quickened the pace and listening to her moaning beneath him intensified his arousal. Just as time was beginning to lose its meaning and just as they were about to reach absolute pleasure, did the elevator start moving again causing them to panic. "Fuck. Not now. You gotta be kidding me. I'm so close."

She hurried him. "Press the emergency stop button or something."

"There isn't one." this was definitely a cheap building...

"We have to stop." Laverne said reluctantly and the look on his face as she quickly pulled up her panties made her giggle. Poor guy.

"No. Come on. We can't stop now!" he desperately slipped a hand between her legs, "You can't leave me like this-"

She removed it quickly, "We don't have a choice."

She helped him zip up quickly as they straightened out their outfits. Guys definitely had it worse in those moments because although she felt an intense pulsating between her legs, at least no one could see her excitement. His was clearly showing. The elevator reached the tenth floor just as she was miserably trying to make him think about literally anything else. They heard chattering behind the doors and Laverne's cheeks turned red at the thought people might have heard them.

The elevator doors flew open just as they were trying to look as innocent as possible. There was a power outage...caused by none other than Chuck when he plugged in some toaster in a very old socket and it short circuited the entire building all because Squiggy demanded toasts. They knew Carmine and Laverne were late and when the guests stepped outside his apartment, they did hear distant voices suspecting it was them. "Laverne!" Chuck exclaimed, "You made it after all."

"Nice to see the Big Ragoo too."

Laverne noticed Rhonda's staring. They'd tried to look somewhat presentable but despite their best efforts, their clothes were still mussed. So was Laverne's hair and her cheeks were flushed. Rhonda giggled at the guilty look on their faces. Sex in an elevator, huh? She hadn't done that in ages. "Were y'all fooling around by any chance?" she had never been one for subtlety. Plus it was just too funny an opportunity to pass up.

By the mortified look on both their faces, they'd just answered her question.

Squiggy gasped loudly, "No. You mean they were..." he made an obscene hand gesture, "...with each other?"

When Rhonda confirmed it, Laverne hid her face with her hand as Carmine chuckled nervously while they finally stepped out of the elevator. The bright side in all of this was that mortification had replaced excitement. Therefore his arousal had completely disappeared into thin air.

Squiggy began making disgusting noises. "Is that really necessary?" Carmine almost snapped.

"You bet your ass it is." Squiggy burst out laughing and Laverne glared at him.

If things weren't embarrassing enough with other people now laughing too, Squiggy was chanting they'd done the nasty and Laverne sure as hell wasn't amused. "Shut up, Squiggy!"

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to make you sorry you were ever born." Carmine threatened.

In a normal time, Squiggy would definitely be fearing for his life but somehow not this time. Laughter came to an abrupt stop after he made some derogatory comment about Laverne. If Carmine had only threatened, Laverne was done with his shit. She punched him just as he was turning around to laugh in her face. Squiggy fell to the floor with a loud thud. As it turned out, humans could too, have their lights knocked out.


End file.
